At the 1983 Australian Ultramarathon—a footrace of 544 grueling miles from Sydney to Melbourne—an odd competitor showed up. Everyone else was a highly trained, commercially sponsored professional. But Cliff Young was a sixty-one-year-old farmer. Unlike the others, who were clad in professional running shoes and cool athletic gear with sponsored logos, Cliff wore a loose white shirt flopping over baggy overalls. He had rubber galoshes over his boots and a white baseball cap hung with sun-screening flaps.
The officials laughed, thinking they were being set up for a joke. But Cliff was serious and ready to run. His name went down on the roster, and someone pinned a number on his faded overalls. Uncertainty about Cliff continued as the runners lined up to start the race. Was this old man really going to compete against young, highly trained athletes with sculpted bodies? Some still thought it was a joke. Others thought him naive or perhaps a little deranged. Some jeered and shouted insults.
When the starting gun fired, the runners took off. The crowd laughed at the contrast between the young contestants’ disciplined strides and Cliff’s odd-gaited shuffle. But five days, fifteen hours, and four minutes later, no one was laughing. Cliff Young crossed the Melbourne finish line almost ten hours ahead of the second-place runner. The astounded press descended on him en masse. How did this aging farmer accomplish such a spectacular run?
Two facts emerged: First, as a shepherd too poor to own a horse, Cliff often herded entire flocks of sheep alone, sometimes running day and night to keep up with the flock. Second, he didn’t realize that runners in ultramarathons stopped at night to rest. He had run the entire distance without sleeping.1
Cliff Young had the primary attribute required to win any long-distance race: perseverance. He just kept on going. While his competitors eased their ordeal with rest, he relentlessly pushed through his exhaustion. His eyes were on the goal—and nothing else.
Clearly, we need perseverance in order to run the race God has set before us in our lives. We especially need perseverance to keep the faith and keep running when the world feels out of control. Importantly, though, you and I do not need to be the source of that perseverance. In fact, we shouldn’t be. We can’t run very far or keep going very long on our strength alone.
That’s why God gives perseverance to His followers. As we determine in our minds to keep the faith, He fills us with all that we require to keep going—to keep running.
There is an amazing promise found in the book of 2 Peter that I want to make sure you know about: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (1:3 NIV). Right there in black and white, God has promised to give you everything you need to live an authentic, impactful life as a member of His kingdom. And one of those things you need is perseverance. Look at what Peter wrote later in that chapter:
Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
—vv. 5–8 NIV, emphasis added
The word perseverance literally means “to bear up under.” It describes someone who remains steadfast in the face of severe trials, obstacles, and suffering.2 Perseverance is a never-give-up attitude, a commitment to move forward when everything is conspiring to hold you back. No matter what happens, you finish the job. Think of the English word itself: persevere. The prefix per conveys the idea of “through,” so perseverance is the ability to go through a severe time.
Perseverance turns ordeals into opportunities. It gives us the opportunity to finish what we begin, to outlast pain and sorrow, to strive until we accomplish things that are difficult, and to demonstrate God’s grace in all the seasons of life.
As Eugene Peterson wrote,
Perseverance is not resignation, putting up with things the way they are, staying in the same old rut year after year after year, or being a doormat for people to wipe their feet on. Endurance is not a desperate hanging on but a traveling from strength to strength. . . . Perseverance is triumphant and alive.3
Those who learn to accept and use God’s gift of perseverance are forces to be reckoned with. In a world where most people give up and give out, those who keep going will accomplish more than they can imagine.
In Luke 8, Jesus told a parable about four different soils. The sower threw out his seed, and some of it, Jesus said, fell on good soil where it germinated. Jesus was actually speaking about the heart of someone who embraced the gospel message. Notice the way He put it: He said the good soil “stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (v. 15 NIV, emphasis added).
Perseverance has the power to accomplish a remarkable harvest through the person possessing it. It adds forcefulness and fortitude to our personalities, and it enables us to reap the harvest, gain the victory, finish the race, and glorify the Lord.
Byron Janis, a world-class concert pianist, played with the world’s top orchestras and recorded many albums. From early childhood he studied with elite teachers and practiced for hours every day. Audiences marveled at the grace and nimbleness of his fingers as they flew across the keyboard, bringing to life the classical repertoire’s most difficult pieces.
In 1973, at the peak of his career, Janis noticed a creeping stiffness in his fingers. After several tests, doctors gave him the devastating diagnosis: he had severe psoriatic arthritis in both hands and wrists. The prognosis was bleak. His fingers would become stiff as wood and severely crippled.
When arthritis fused joints in nine of his fingers, it appeared his concert career was over. But Janis was determined to challenge this. Without revealing his disease to the public, he spent long hours adapting his playing technique to this new reality. He relied on regular medications, acupuncture, ultrasound, and even tried hypnosis to cope with the pain. His wife, Maria, learned and applied a therapeutic massage technique to restore flexibility to his joints.
Janis continued playing for twelve more years, keeping the state of his health private. The world learned of his condition when he disclosed it at a 1985 White House concert. Despite several more surgeries on his hands, Janis continued to play the piano and became an active fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation. He credits hope and perseverance for his success in overcoming his severe trial. As he put it, “I have arthritis, but it does not have me.”4
In this fallen world, trials and suffering are inescapable. And they don’t go away when we become Christians. The good news is perseverance can transform our curses into blessings. As Janis said in an interview, “Arthritis has taught me to look inside myself for new sources of strength and creativity. It has given my life a new intensity.”5 In other words, it made Byron Janis a force to be reckoned with.
Receiving God’s gift of perseverance has more benefits than you can imagine, but the impact can be summarized in two broad categories.
The Old Testament patriarch Job is probably history’s best-known sufferer. For much of his life, he was an exemplary, godly man with extravagant wealth and a large family. That all changed one day when Satan targeted him for attack. In a series of mind-numbing disasters, Satan destroyed his wealth, servants, and children—all in a single day. Then the devil struck Job with a painful and disfiguring disease. Job was reduced to groveling in ashes and scraping his sores with a pottery shard. His friends came to analyze his problems, but they did more harm than good.
Despite all this, Job never gave up. He maintained his trust in God, who showed up at the end of the book out of a whirlwind and restored Job to a place of unparalleled blessing. Job persevered through forty chapters of suffering, then Job 42:12 says, “Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.”
The New Testament writer James said, “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11 NIV).
God rewarded Job’s perseverance and gave him double of everything he had before. The restoration of Job’s wealth and family was the obvious blessing, but I believe there was another blessing that was perhaps even greater.
Job learned that the God who is big enough to control all facets of the universe is certainly able to direct the paths of His people. As Job confessed at the end of his story, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You” (42:2). He learned to trust in God rather than question Him.
That, my friend, is an enormous blessing.
Perseverance is our willingness to wait on God to apply His grace to our frustrations and His answers to our questions. And as we wait, we continue to move forward. This is no easy lesson to learn, but the relief of learning it is one of life’s greatest comforts.
In her book You Are Not Alone, Dena Yohe wrote about the pain of dealing with a suicidal, addicted, depressed, and self-harming daughter. Her book has been an enormous help to many worried parents because she’s very honest about the prolonged pain of having a child in crisis. One of the hardest things is realizing “this journey might not be over quickly.”
Dena said, “How I hoped it would, but lowering expectations helped me to be more patient with the process, especially when we experienced setbacks.” But, she said, she found great comfort in repeating a simple phrase: I can’t. God can. I think I’ll let Him.6
A lot of tough non-Christians have tenacity and resilience, and we admire them for that. But the kind of perseverance the Bible advocates is possible only with God—it is accessible only through God. We have to wait on Him and give Him time to work His will into our situations. We keep going because when we can’t, He can—and we should let Him. Doing so leaves a legacy long remembered.
The second force that enters our lives through perseverance involves the transformation of our character. As we press forward, we learn so much along the way. In fact, the Bible teaches in both Romans and James that perseverance is at the heart of a mature personality.
Romans 5:3–4 tells us to rejoice in our sufferings, “because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (NIV).
The book of James echoes that insight, saying, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (1:2–4 NIV).
In other words, perseverance is the essence of maturity. If you can’t persevere, you won’t mature. We face trials because God wants us to learn to trust Him and to press on with grit and grace—that’s perseverance.
Spiritual transformation doesn’t just happen. It’s forged through the fire of difficulty. When we maintain our trust in God despite difficulty or disaster—even when it seems as if the world is on its head—doing so produces a strength of conviction, ethics, courage, and rectitude that Paul summed up in Romans 5 as character.
History records many examples of people deliberately inflicting pain on themselves to achieve character. Medieval penitents whipped themselves or wore nail-studded devices that punctured their skin. Certain tribes of Native Americans suspended their warriors by hooks inserted into their pectoral muscles. Eastern mystics walked barefoot over hot coals.
But here’s a secret I’ve learned over my lifetime: you don’t need to go searching for trials! The world is well-stocked with an abundant supply. If yours haven’t arrived yet, be patient. They’re on the way. And when those tough circumstances assail you, don’t run or hide from reality. Instead, face them head-on. Persevere through them, and you’ll experience the mercy and compassion of the Lord, which will form in you strength of character and a heart that hopes.
Chris Tiegreen wrote,
Technological advancement has made travel, communication, and daily chores incredibly time-efficient, if not instantaneous. The result is that we’re not trained in perseverance. We’re not accustomed to pains that can’t be relieved and problems that can’t be corrected. When they come, we send up prayers with almost the same expectation as when we press the buttons on our microwave. A few seconds, we think, and we should be done with it. God usually doesn’t work that way. He is thorough and precise, and He will not be rushed. When He tries us in the fire, as He did Job, nothing can get us out. The time cannot be shortened and our growth cannot come more quickly. We must learn perseverance.
Tiegreen continued, “No one has ever become a true disciple without perseverance.”7
God knows we need trials to form character, just as athletes need resistance to tone their muscles. In His relentless pursuit of us, He will not leave us in our comfort zones, where our spiritual muscles atrophy from lack of use. Instead, He exposes us to obstacles to strengthen our faith, humble our hearts, and refine our character. That’s why Paul urged Timothy to “pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness” (1 Timothy 6:11 NLT).
So, how do you receive God’s gift of perseverance? How do you find the strength to press on when you feel like giving up? The next time you’re close to giving up, consider these biblical strategies for moving forward.
On a rainy night in 1976, six-year-old Omee Thao and her siblings were awakened by their mother. “They are here,” she whispered, “and we need to go now!” Communists had invaded Laos the previous year, and Laotian Christians were no longer safe. Now the soldiers had reached Omee’s village. With no time to pack food or water, Omee’s family and others crept stealthily to the outskirts of the city, where guides waited to escort them to Thailand.
They slogged through nights of torrential rain, the flooded and muddy trail making travel difficult and miserable. In daylight, they hid under bushes from searching soldiers. They survived on roots and rainwater. Poorly shod or barefoot, their feet were bruised and bleeding. Days later, they began finding the bones of earlier refugees who died trying to flee.
After twelve grueling days, Omee and her family reached the Thailand border. An official attempted to extort money from Omee’s mother and clubbed her to the ground because she had none. They were trucked to a refugee camp and herded with other refugees into a space the size of a jail cell. Their meager rations consisted of rice and fish. Several refugees starved to death.
Yet, despite these ordeals, Omee later wrote, “We rejoiced daily and, as followers of Jesus, thanked God for His protection over our lives. Despite the hardship, we knew we had to keep persevering and enduring, for we had the hope that others did not have.”
After enduring the camp for two years, Omee’s family received a letter from a relative who had reached the United States, offering to sponsor them for immigration. In 1979, they were flown to Appleton, Wisconsin. Life in America was hard at first, but Omee and her family had the perspective of the terrible ordeals they endured. They adapted and finally achieved lives of peace and prosperity.
Omee earned a master’s degree from Denver Seminary in 2015 and now serves in church ministry with her husband. As she wrote, “All the hardships I faced in Laos and Thailand God faithfully turned into blessings.”8
The Bible tells you to look at your problems in light of eternity. In the book of Romans, Paul wrote: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (8:18). Architects tell us no building is large or small except by comparison to something else. Comparison is the key to Paul’s attitude. Putting things in perspective, Paul realized he was trading temporary sufferings for massive, eternally enduring, perpetual joy and delight.
When you weigh the outcome against the cost of your perseverance, not only does perseverance become your first response; it comes to you more easily. The current ordeal may wear down your body, but that body will wear down anyway through age. So the choice is yours how to proceed—and I don’t know about you, but I’d rather burn out than rust out.
I’ve mentioned Joni Eareckson Tada in many of my books because her insights as a long-term quadriplegic have inspired me and millions of others. In one of her books, she wrote:
Looking down on my problems from heaven’s perspective, trials looked extraordinarily different. When viewed from its own level, my paralysis seemed like a huge, impassable wall, but when viewed from above, the wall appeared as a thin line, something that could be overcome. It was, I discovered with delight, a bird’s-eye view. It was the view of Isaiah 40:31: “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not be faint” (NIV).9
If you want to keep moving forward, learn to think of your problems from God’s perspective. Instead of comparing your challenges to your own resources, compare them to God’s great power, His eternal plan, and His divine love. See them against His infinite grace. The trials that seem so large to us are well within His ability to manage, bless, and redeem for good.
Remember, God will provide the perseverance you need. Your job is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Tackle life step-by-step. When God appointed Joshua as leader of the Israelites and gave him responsibility for leading them across the River Jordan and conquering the promised land, He told him, “I will give you every place where you set your foot” (Joshua 1:3 NIV). In other words, you can’t make any progress unless you go forward one step at a time, but every single step will be a victory.
You don’t have to conquer your whole problem at once, nor do you need to accomplish your life’s work in one day. God’s plan is step-by-step, and you have to take life day by day.
Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matthew 6:33–34).
Listen to that! Your worry doesn’t help, so just tackle today. God alone is in charge of tomorrow.
People in addiction recovery groups, twelve-step groups, or support groups dealing with grief and other issues know the phrase one day at a time. There really is no other way to persevere.
Gerri Willis is a journalist with the Fox Business Network. In the middle of her career, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and at first she couldn’t face the diagnosis. She reached out to one of her colleagues, Jennifer Griffin, who had beaten triple-negative breast cancer. Jennifer told her, “Prepare yourself for the long haul.”
In other words, get ready to persevere—to go through severe circumstances.
Gerri’s experiences with treatment left her “horrified, shaking like a leaf.” But she wouldn’t give up. In 2017, she wrote an article about the benefits she’s gained through her experience. “No lesson was more important than this,” she wrote. “I learned to take life day by day and hour by hour.”10
I’ve battled cancer, too, and had many other problems in life. I want to tell you from my heart that if you’re going through a difficult personal trial, the words of Jesus contain great power: “Do not worry about tomorrow.” Just take things day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, and step-by-step. Put one foot in front of the other and keep going. The Lord will be with you, and He will secure every place where the sole of your foot treads. He will open up the future for you, and He’ll get you there in His good timing.
Just tackle today with Him.
Peter Rosenberger has been caring for his disabled wife for many years, and his ministry to other caregivers has been of great help to thousands. In his book Hope for the Caregiver, Rosenberger pointed out that loneliness is the first thing that, in God’s eyes, was not good. Yet many people who are caregivers become isolated. “Regardless of the reasons, time has a way of filtering relationships, and the caregiver is left to fend alone without meaningful interaction outside of a bleak situation that, at best, stays the same for long stretches.”
Rosenberger wrote, “There are many reasons for the isolation that caregivers feel, but the results are universally negative. Without positive human connections, everyone suffers.”11
That’s why the phrase one another occurs nearly eighty times in the New Testament. If you’re going to get through a prolonged struggle, you’ve got to have some positive supporters to cheer you on, to pray for you, and to brighten the corner where you are currently residing.
When Julie and Dan McConnel learned they would be parents of twins with Down syndrome, they were afraid. Julie was forty-five years old, and the couple already had four children. They faced a trial they had not bargained for. They had no idea how to raise children with Down syndrome. What challenges would they face? What special needs would have to be met? Could they cope with the heavy responsibility? As Julie said, “You feel like you’ve lost the future you imagined you were going to have.” They even considered avoiding the challenge by putting the babies up for adoption.
Seeking encouragement as they prepared for the births, the McConnels connected with other parents of children with Down syndrome through the internet and a local Down syndrome association. These connections paid off. Other families offered much-needed encouragement and advice, particularly a Scottish family who also had twins with Down syndrome. Greatly reassured, the McConnels abandoned thoughts of adoption. If this difficulty was to be placed on them, they would bear it and persevere.
When Charlie and Milo were born, all doubts evaporated. The McConnels fell in love with the delightful little twins, and there was no looking back, no regrets. Yes, life was more difficult. There were special medications, regular tests, and the twins’ learning processes were slower and required more patience. But as Julie said, “You feel like this thing that’s the biggest blow you’ve ever received in your life has suddenly become a tremendous blessing that you’re so grateful for. . . . I have these children who are so remarkable and so unique and so special. I feel like I have them for a purpose.”12
The credo of the modern age is, “I stand alone. I don’t need anyone. I have within myself everything I need to make it in this world.” But this isn’t true. It never has been. As the McConnels drew strength and encouragement from others, so do we all. This is not merely a preference. Having others around us for support and encouragement when the way gets rocky is a real need. It’s the fuel that keeps us going.
As Solomon wrote,
Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
—Ecclesiastes 4:9–12
Another ingredient in the formula for persevering involves taking breaks. Persevering doesn’t mean we never rest. Jesus took intervals of rest during His mission on earth. God rested on the seventh day after creating the world and its inhabitants. To rest is one of the Ten Commandments: “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed” (Exodus 23:12).
Rest is a principle built into creation. As this passage says, rest is refreshment. It restores the depleted body and mind. How often have you faced a dilemma, desperately needing a solution that would not come? One idea after another enters your head, but none works. Finally, in frustration you lay it all aside and say, “I can’t deal with this anymore. I’m going to bed.” Then the next morning when you awake the solution comes to your rested mind.
As Anne Lamott said, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”13
With apologies to ultramarathoner Cliff Young, rest is not a lapse in perseverance. Rest is stopping to take stock, reorganize, and regroup to continue the battle. Rest turns your conscious mind off and enables you to refocus—to see the problem from a new angle.
More importantly, rest indicates trust in God. Overworking yourself to make things happen can mean you trust too much in your own resources. (Remember the mantra of our age—“I stand alone. I don’t need anyone. I have everything I need to succeed”?) Your willingness to stop and rest is an expression of your mature trust in God. You can rest because you know He will take care of you.
In Psalm 3, David spoke of how his enemies had increased. But he was not worried. God was his shield, the One who lifted up his head. In the midst of his turmoil, David wrote, “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around” (vv. 5–6). Despite enemies assailing him, David rested unafraid, knowing God was his strength and protection.
I know there are times when your spirit struggles. But when the opportunity comes for you to laugh or be happy, embrace that moment. You can’t be defined by the grimness of any particular situation. You are here to be defined by the reality of Christ in you.
Christians are not stoics who merely endure life with plodding patience. We are Christ-followers who persevere by faith in God’s great and precious promises.
More than seven years ago, three firefighters in Wilmington, Delaware, lost their lives in a terrible fire in the Canby Park neighborhood. One of the heroes who perished was a mother, Ardythe Hope. She left behind a precious daughter, Ardavia, whom the whole Wilmington Fire Department, in effect, adopted.
In 2019 Ardavia was awarded a $25,000 Bridging the Dream scholarship, given to academically successful students who have overcome adversity. She is the first Delaware student to win this award. Her school counselor, who nominated her, said this about Ardavia:
For everything she’s had to deal with, she’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever met. Every day I look forward to see[ing] her. If you didn’t know her situation, you would never know it by meeting her. She doesn’t carry that, she doesn’t dwell on it, she just looks to her future . . . and every day brings a smile and positive attitude to everything she does.
Ardavia also has a message to everyone who has lost a parent. “When it happened to me,” she said, “it was a major setback, but I had to persevere. And I just want everyone to know it gets better. . . . I just want everyone to know they’re not alone.”14
You are never alone. Jesus Christ said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
What if you just refuse to quit? Refusing to quit is the theme of the entire book of Hebrews. The writer was addressing a group of discouraged Hebrew believers, and the key text is in chapter 10: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (vv. 35–36 NIV).
Do you remember what Luke said about Jesus when the time came for Him to leave Galilee and travel toward Jerusalem, where He knew He faced arrest, torture, flogging, and death by crucifixion? Luke 9:51 says, “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
What remarkable words. Luke seemed to indicate that a look of unconquerable resolution came over our Lord’s countenance—an expression that said, “There’s no turning back. Let’s go and do this.”
Hiking the Appalachian Trail has become the lifetime dream for many people, but the two-thousand-plus rugged miles are hard to tackle in one summer. Most hikers who set out from Georgia to Maine never finish, often because of injuries. Jennifer Pharr Davis did it three times. On one hike with her husband, Brew, Jennifer suffered shin splints, hypothermia, and a major illness. Within two weeks of starting, she told her husband she wanted to quit.
“If you really want to quit, that’s fine,” he said. “But you can’t quit now.” He told her to eat, rest, take her medicine, and complete at least one more day. By the end of the next day, Jennifer had regained her strength and was ready to press on until she made it all the way.15
That’s wise advice, isn’t it? If you want to quit, that’s fine. Just don’t do it today. Keep the faith until the sun rises tomorrow.
One of the most inspiring scenes of perseverance in recent memory occurred in February 2015 at the Austin Marathon. Among those lined up at the starting line for the 26.2-mile race was Kenya’s Hyvon Ngetich, a favorite to win.
She was the leading runner for most of the race until her body began to break down with only two-tenths of a mile to go. She collapsed to the ground, unable to run or even walk. But she refused to give up. As spectators and medical staff cheered her on, Hyvon—with her eyes focused on the goal—crawled inch by inch to the finish line, completing the race in third place.
Afterward, the race director said to her, “You ran the bravest race and crawled the bravest crawl I have ever seen in my life. You have earned much honor.”16
Another runner, Ramiro Guerra, said, “When you see something like that it’s just another reason to say, ‘hey, you know what, I’m going to go up and give it my all.’”17
As Guerra reminds us, sometimes we need to look at someone else’s perseverance to find the motivation for our own. And that brings us to the final secret of this virtue.
We’ve looked at the force and formula of perseverance; now let’s look at its focus. To move forward when you feel like giving up, focus your vision on Jesus Christ, for He is the One who empowers and enables you to keep going. Perhaps the strongest text in the Bible on this subject is Hebrews 12:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
—vv. 1–3 NIV
The entire ministry of our Savior was plagued with difficulty and opposition. During Jesus’ forty-day wilderness fast, Satan tried to derail Him with temptations disguised as painless shortcuts to His goal. Throughout His ministry, He endured opposition, exhaustion, and misunderstanding. Near the end He vividly foresaw the horrors looming ahead and prayed in abject agony with sweat pouring from Him like great drops of blood. Finally, He was falsely accused in a mock trial, brutally scourged, and nailed to a cross to hang for six agonizing hours as blood poured from the thorns lacerating His scalp, from the wounds in His hands and His back, and finally from the wound of a spear impaling His side.
And yet He persevered through it all.
The result? Forgiveness for us. The shattering of the gates of hell. And glorious resurrection from the dead. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, He gives us the spiritual stamina to run with perseverance, to endure, and to never grow weary and lose heart.
When you feel like quitting, just look at the cross. Look at the empty tomb! Look at His ascension into heaven. Look at Him there on the throne. Look at His victory. Look at His love for you. Look at His grace. Consider Him. Meditate on Him. Talk to Him. Draw from His Word.
And never give up.